


Belong to Yesterday

by comete



Category: Bully (Video Games)
Genre: Aftermath of a no good very bad situation, Gary is Gary, Jimmy is trying, M/M, Mention of sex, Petey is nervous, Short and hopeful, Suicide Attempt, Suicide mention, because pete is involved, fluffy in a domestic way, nothing explicit at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23942953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comete/pseuds/comete
Summary: "Things would never be the same again. "
Relationships: Jimmy Hopkins/Peter "Petey" Kowalski
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	Belong to Yesterday

_"He asked about you again today, you know."_

Petey opened his hazel eyes when he heard Jimmy speaking from the side of the bed, the boy upright in the pitch-black room with nothing but his lit cigarette to dimly illuminate the dorm bedroom. Both of the boys were naked, the room smelling distinctly of sex and cheap cigarette smoke that usually chased the scent of their sexual adventures. Petey guessed he must've fallen asleep for a few minutes, the damp sweat imprinted into the sheets already starting to dry.

Jimmy sat with his feet planted firmly on the floor and arms resting across his kneecaps, scrunched over his own nude body with the divets in his spine appearing from the posture. He faced away from the once sleeping student, gaze forward to stare at the wall closest to the bedroom door that was locked and secure. It was quiet through the halls, far later than midnight with school fast approaching in just a few hours. 

Pete shifted underneath Jimmy's lime worn blanket, groaning as he rubbed his eyes to fight off the sleep that had overtaken him for a moment. He pulled the large blanket closer to his exposed body, running his gaze to view Jimmy in the ill light. "Ah," Peter murmured in the darkroom. "Same old stuff?"

Jimmy nodded in response, inhaling the Redwood brand cigarette before exhaling the faint cloud of smoke that danced above the boys. It was a normal occurrence for Gary to ask about Pete, especially now that the smallest of the three stopped visiting him in the hospital. It had been a month or so since Pete had last made the visit to see Gary. Each day that passed by weighed heavily on all three of them, but for different reasons. "Same old stuff," Jimmy confirmed. "I told him I would talk to you after he started to get himself all worked up about it. I see him three times a week and I swear that most of the time he just talks about you. Dunno why I even bother showing up, really, because he talks about you as if I'm not even there."

Guilt plagued Petey, turning his head away from watching Jimmy to stare up at the popcorn dipped ceiling above them. He couldn't make out any distinct shapes, the room being too dark, but he saw a few bumps and ridges that he had traced over with his eyes several times. The familiar patterns helped ground him before he would slip into his second natured anxiety state. 

"He thinks he did something wrong. You should just tell him that you know about the rooftop, Pete."

Petey closed his eyes when squinting in the dark to retrace the ceiling wasn't helping calm his jittery growing nerves. Gary didn't do anything wrong since the last visit that was rounding near five weeks prior. Pete had regularly been visiting Gary at the local St. Jude's Hospital while he recovered from his broken leg, accompanying him steadily for a month since the incident on top of the roof where he fought Jimmy. It wasn't until Petey found out what actually happened to cause Gary to get injured that made him stay away to ease his own selfish conscious. He felt guilty all around and wasn't sure how to face Gary without breaking down into a mess of emotions that he wasn't able to place and store inside himself.

It was a secret that Jimmy and Pete kept close to them. The only other person that knew the full story of the rooftop showdown was Gary's therapist that visited him in his hospital room twice a week.

Jimmy had kept it hid from Petey until recently, a month ago newly. He didn't want to trouble the other student with any more bad news regarding Gary and his sanity, but Jimmy felt that it was Pete's right to know if he was going to continue seeing Gary on a regular basis.

The cables to the platforms that Gary and Jimmy stood on didn't snap and send them sprawling through the glass into Crabblesnitch's office as they had originally told the staff and police once Gary was hauled off the hospital because of the severity of his injuries. No, it was a scene that was more devastating than just a fight gone wrong.

Gary had purposefully jumped from the stage with the intention of dying.

The two boys had fought viciously on the platform once they had toppled off of the roof, immediately having been sent into a frenzy of fists being thrown and curses shouted. It wasn't a fair fight by any standard, Jimmy having the upper hand on the student whose body suffered from medication withdrawal and lack of sleep. It was an easy win, though Gary had thrown a few convincing hooks that connected with Jimmy's jaw that lead the redhead to believe that he had been capable of putting up a decent fight. 

It wasn't until the fight was nearing to be finished when the situation went from bad to worse. 

Both of the boys were bleeding from hard punches, scratches, and bites. They had been battling like animals, pushing themselves to be the victor with the goal of knocking out the enemy and claiming their prize as the alpha male plus leader of the school. Gary had been beaten into a notably worse state than Jimmy, the scarred boy leaning against the metal frame railing as he dry heaved from the pain that echoed in his body. Jimmy stood upright, tall and proud, viewing the aftershock of his beat down that caused great distress to his opponent. Jimmy yelled for Gary to give in and give up, promising the boy he wouldn't lay another hand on him if Gary just turned himself in and walked away. 

Gary didn't see that as an option, however. It wasn't even a consideration for him. Giving up all that he worked for to watch it be claimed and destroyed by Jimmy? All of his efforts to rule the school handed over to an idiot who could barely spell his own name? It wouldn't stand. Gary, though, didn't have many alternatives. 

Gary leaned over the railing and spat out a glob of blood from his mouth, a tooth having been knocked loose or took out completely during the unforgiving brawl. The pain that burned through his body was the least of his concerns at the moment. His empire and months of planning were about to be flushed down the drain and the student responsible for it was staring him in the face with the smug attitude of an untouchable king. 

What more could Gary do?

The beat student decided there was only one solution that seemed to fit his strong conviction of not turning himself in. Gary had no more fight left in him and a long, permanent silence of his screaming brain sounded lovely. He might have not been thinking completely clearly, head swimming and pounding with pain that was accompanied by screeches of threats and foul words by his own inner voice that willed him to not give in. "They'll think you pushed me," Gary barked out in a voice that reeled with odd comfort and acceptance of what was to come. "You'll be expelled, ostracized by everyone you know, and sent to prison for committing murder. You don't win, Hopkins. I won't let you. I'll forever run your tiny world, even from the grave while you count your days in a prison cell, you complete moron. Goodbye, James. It's been grand."

Jimmy's eyes widened as he in an instant sprinted toward Gary to grab him to safety when it clicked with him the words and intention that came from the student. Jimmy extended his hand to grab Gary, pull him back to safety, anything to prevent him from falling into the glass roof below. Jimmy was too late, though only by a second. He reached out to grab Gary but found himself clenching the empty air as the boy left the railing and shattered through the glass below.

Glass imprinted new scars on his skin. His arms were torn from the shards tearing through and lodging into his body, a few cuts on his face that would add to his collection of permanent facial marks. Two fractured ribs, internal bleeding around his stomach, and a broken left leg that snapped in multiple places upon impact. It was a miracle he didn't die, the doctors swore when he was rushed into the emergency room by gurney. If Gary had landed a few inches more of an incline he would've hit his head directly with the ground and caused severe trauma to his brain that would've left him deceased or brain-damaged to some capacity. Neither was an outcome that Petey nor Jimmy wanted for him, yet they both felt guilty to a certain degree. 

Jimmy's conscious toyed with him for not having left things alone when Gary was scheming. Yes, the student was making his life hell, but Jimmy purposefully took the school out from underneath of him all in the name of spite and revenge. All Gary had ever wanted was the cliques to regard him as a leader and to battle back against the bullies that thought they owned the academy. Jimmy wondered if that would've been such a bad thing when he visited Gary in the hospital. He questioned how things would've turned out if the boy had been put in charge to make the school what he wanted. There was no way of telling if the following years would've played out a lot better or worse than the reality around him. 

Jimmy simply didn't know.

Petey felt guilt over not visiting Gary when he heard of the suicide attempt. It was difficult for him to will himself to see the boy who laid in the hospital now that Pete was aware of the truth. He blamed himself, as he usually did, asking why he didn't find a way to convince Gary to resolve his issues with Jimmy and work together as a team. Pete knew there was more he could've done that potentially would've been beneficial to Gary's mental health, such as checking in on him more and devoting more time to hanging out with the student. Instead, Petey had strayed away and left Gary to rot with his thoughts in their shared dorm room while he sided with Jimmy, removing himself from the situation that was Gary Smith. He could've done more, Petey swore. 

_Should've, would've, could've._

"I know I should see him," Pete mumbled in the dark dorm with the words barely being loud enough to be caught. "I just know that when I do... I don't know. I think I'll get upset and he'll be confused or make fun of me or something. It's hard to think about sitting by him and playing cards as if he didn't try to kill himself."

Jimmy nodded slowly and coughed a few times, throat dry from the smoke intake he gave to himself. Smoking was a nasty, awful habit that he had picked up from the Greasers when he had been hanging around their clique in the winter prior. It was now the start of the new school year and here he was, still practicing the unhealthy addiction. Jimmy spoke after clearing his throat, twisting his body until he was able to study Petey's face in the black. "I know, Pete, really. I know better than anyone else in this world. He's trying, though, and giving everything his best effort from what I can tell. He's getting the help he needs mentally and physically and even was semi-friendly with me the last time I saw him. All I'm saying is that he thinks he scared you away but doesn't know why. I'm not going to force you to see him. Just wanted to let you know."

The redhead turned his body back to face the wall, half chewing on the cigarette butt that laid on the edge of his mouth. He took an inhale of smoke and discharged it as he added on a few seconds later, "They got his meds squared away, finally. They're trying out some new behavior pill. Last visit he was kinda chipper if you can believe it."

Petey chuckled to himself as he sat up from the cot, scratching his short light brown hair that curled slightly from being grown out over the past few months. "Gary Smith being happy? Huh. I've heard it all now."

Jimmy was under no obligation to visit Gary in the hospital, but still, he did so without once having missed a session with the injured student. Gary at first was adamant and firm that Jimmy was not to be allowed to see him in the hospital, throwing out threats and disgust at the even thought of his enemy seeing him weakened and injured. Gary, though, eventually gave in due to Petey's constant whining and convincing to allow the boy to at least stop by one time to see Gary. That first visitation with Jimmy turned into a regular routine that never broke, keeping his promise of visiting Gary three times a week.

They were almost even friends by now. Pals like the way they were before Gary stabbed Jimmy in the back. It was familiar, but brand new at the same time. 

The smaller teenager shifted overtop of the bed and crawled to the side where Jimmy still sat in his hunched over position, Pete bringing the blankets with him as he wrapped himself in a comfortable burrito. He silently pressed his body against Jimmy's, laying his head against the somewhat muscular bicep of the freckled boy.

_ "Do you think things will ever the same again?" _

Petey's question was a whisper but the weight of the words were heavy. He didn't know what the future holds and it scared him, though he had the feeling that his boyfriend who smoked silently was just as afraid as he was. Endless scenarios played out in Pete's head before he eventually gave in at bedtime most nights and fell asleep with the looming threats of the unknown haunting him. What would Gary do when he got out and could walk on his own again? Would he come back to Bullworth? Would he fight Jimmy? Would he hurt himself?

Jimmy pondered the question for a little bit, finding an answer suitable for a response after his cigarette burned out the final piece of tobacco. He tossed the dead filter into an ashtray that sat on his side table, sighing as he shook his head definitively. "No," he answered in a quiet calm tone. "They won't. They'll never be the same ever again, Pete. That doesn't mean things won't be okay, though. We're still here and so is he. We'll get through this, somehow, and we'll make it work. Together. All of us."

Pete knew that Jimmy was right after he finished speaking, comfort washing over him and easing some of his anxiety that strummed at his nerves. There wasn't a normality of previous times that they could refer back to and live in once more. It was a new normal, one that refused to make accommodations to reflect their old lives of naive thoughts and reckless actions they carried out a few months ago. Gary was severely mentally ill, Jimmy was the leader of the school, and Pete played the part of Headboy. Their window of opportunity to return to normal was long since gone, but the future was far from written. 

They could find a way to be better than before. Gary could heal in multiple ways and be a greater adjusted person than he ever was. Jimmy could bring order to the academy and fight back against the abusive orderlies that controlled the school. Pete could give a voice to the students who had nobody in their corner and fighting for them. 

Things would never be the same again. 

The thought made Petey smile. He leaned up and kissed Jimmy despite the foul taste of a cigarette lingering on his lips, a flavor that Pete hated to admit having grown accustomed to. It was a new school year, a new start. 

The three of them were going to be just fine. Somehow, someway, they would make it. Together. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr is video-space
> 
> It's late oh gosh I hope this isn't as bad as I think it is??? I'm tired and I gave it a read and my brain decided to short circuit halfway through so :)  
> kudos/comment/follow if u wanna see more of me projecting my heartache onto teenage boys.
> 
> Title is taken from, "Lagoon," by Favored Nations. give it a listen if u want, it's sweet.


End file.
